View source for Bafut Subdivision

{{Short description|Commune in Northwest Region, Cameroon}}
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The '''Bafut Subdivision''' or the '''Kingdom/Chiefdom/Fondom of Bafut''' is a commune in the [[Mezam]] Department of [[Northwest Province, Cameroon|Northwest Province]], [[Cameroon]]. It is located in the [[Western Grassfields]] region - a name for the Northwest Province and surrounding grassland areas. Bafut is the most powerful of the traditional kingdoms of the Grassfields, now divided into 26 wards along a 10 kilometre stretch of the "Ring Road" that trails along a ridge above the [[Menchum Valley]].

Bafut is primarily an agrarian region. The major languages of the region are the [[Bafut language]] and [[Cameroonian Pidgin English]]. Its headquarters are located in the town of [[Bafut (town)|Bafut]].

==History==
Bafut was a [[Fon (Cameroon)|fondom]] or kingdom - ruled by the [[Fon of Bafut]] using [[Traditional administrative system of Bafut|traditional power structures]]. However, following the [[Bafut Wars]] in the early 20th century, the region came under the [[German Empire]]. The Germans forced the Fon into exile, but had to ultimately reinstate him as leader when their [[puppet ruler]] was not accepted. The fall of the German Empire in [[World War I]] brought the region under the [[British Empire]] as part of the [[British Cameroons]]. At least one Fon of Bafut, [[Achirimbi II]] maintained friendly ties with the British. When the British left Cameroon in 1961, the region had a choice of joining either the newly formed Cameroon or [[Nigeria]]. Achirimbi II is famously said to have remarked that it was a choice between the "Fire and the Deep Sea"; the region ultimately joined Cameroon.

Since 2017, Bafut has become of battleground of the [[Anglophone Crisis]]. [[Operation Free Bafut]] in April 2020 saw heavy fighting in and around the village between the Cameroonian military and the separatist [[Seven Karta]] militia.

==Geography==

The region of Bafut is situated about twenty kilometres northwest of [[Bamenda]] and covers an area of roughly {{convert|340|km2|-1}}. The estimated population of 80,000 (2005) is settled in three main zones. 
*At the centre are the people of ''Mumala'a'' (heart of the country) clustered around the Fon's palace who refer to themselves as the real Bafut (''Bufu''). This name can be applied to the whole chiefdom. 
*To the south is the ''Ntare'' (ridge area) 
*To the north is the ''Mbunti'' (lower) which descends abruptly to the [[Menchum]] river valley

==Traditional power structures==

Bafut is one of the two regions in Cameroon (the other being [[Bali, Cameroon]]), where traditional power structures are still in place. Bafut is a chiefdom or [[Fon (Cameroon)|fon]]dom. It was long the centre of the local kingdom of the [[Tikar]] people (originally from the Northern regions of [[Lake Chad]]), and is administered by the [[Fon of Bafut]]. The Fon of Bafut was, and to some extent still is, the ''paramount'' Fon of the region, with all other Fons pledging allegiance to him.

==The region in popular culture==

The Bafut Subdivision is known for 
*its palace of the Fon of Bafut, which houses a museum (see [[Fon of Bafut]] for a section on the palace)
*for its annual festival [[Abin e Mfor]] or the ''Dance of the Mfor/Fon''
*as the place where the famous naturalist [[Gerald Durrell]] came on two animal-collecting expeditions in 1949 and 1957. Durrell wrote two accounts - ''The Bafut Beagles'' and ''A Zoo in My Luggage'' - on his travels in Bafut, and created a mini TV series ''To Bafut with Beagles''.

==References==
*R. K. Engard; Myth and political economy in Bafut (Cameroon)- the structural history of an African kingdom; ''Paideuma'', Vol. 34, pp.&nbsp;49 – 89; 1988
*R. K. Engard; Dance and power in Bafut (Cameroon), ''Creativity of power: Cosmology and action in African societies'', ed. W. Arens and Ivan Karp, [[Smithsonian Institution Press]]; 1989
* Michael Tabuwé Aletum;  Political conflicts within the traditional and the modern institutions: A case study of the Bafut-Cameroon; Vander Pub., 1973

{{Communes of Northwest Region, Cameroon}}
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{{Coord missing|Cameroon}}

[[Category:Communes of Northwest Region (Cameroon)]]